**Florimond Muteba: Expert in Project Management and Economic Development**
Florimond Muteba, a key figure in the field of project management and economic development in Africa, recently published an essential work entitled “Manual for financial and economic analysis and evaluation of development projects: For better governance of public investments in the DRC. This work, published in 2024, by Médiaspaul in Kinshasa, is intended to be a valuable guide aimed at improving the governance of public investments in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The observation drawn up by Florimond Muteba is clear: a disconnect between planning and investment decisions, a crucial lack of financial information at the national level and insufficient project appraisal procedures. To remedy these shortcomings, the expert proposes a structured approach aimed at establishing a culture of project planning and management, reducing inconsistencies between plans and projects, centralizing financial information and putting in place procedures of rational instruction.
In his book, Florimond Muteba sets out the different key stages of planning and execution of a project: from the formulation of the medium-term plan to budgeting, including planning and articulation. According to him, a good project planning system must take into account essential elements such as political awareness, effective organizations, competent staff, well-defined procedures and continuous and integrated evaluation.
The crucial aspect of project execution is also addressed by Florimond Muteba, who highlights the need to optimize project execution from the planning phase, to transition to the operational phase after execution, to put put in place effective monitoring for the analysis and optimization of projects, and finally to evaluate the impact of projects on financial and physical aspects to ensure the achievement of the set objectives.
Professor Muteba emphasizes the importance of managing the project cycle iteratively, making decisions at each stage and allowing the project to adapt and readjust as necessary. It also provides a logical framework for project development, highlighting the importance of clearly identifying objectives, outputs, inputs and critical conditions to ensure project success.
In terms of financial and economic analysis, Florimond Muteba offers cost estimation methods and investment selection criteria, highlighting the psychological and financial approach and the different criteria essential to evaluate the profitability of a project.
Finally, the expert highlights the assessment of environmental impacts in development projects, addressing aspects such as air, water and soil pollution, waste as well as the loss of biodiversity and risks to human health.
In conclusion, Florimond Muteba’s work aims to be a complete guide for effective management of development projects, emphasizing the importance of planning, execution, financial and economic analysis, as well as as well as the assessment of environmental impacts. An essential book for any actor involved in economic development and project management in Africa.